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Strawberry to help Mets in spring

Baseball roundup

NEW YORK - Darryl Strawberry is rejoining the New York Mets as a special instructor for a few days during spring training.

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It will be his first time with the team since he left after the 1990 season to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had been a player development instructor with the New York Yankees before resigning last February to spend more time with church-related activities.

"I can't tell you how excited I am about coming back," Strawberry said Friday in a statement released by the Mets. "This is where it all started for me. Any success that I have had in the game can be attributed to my beginnings with the Mets. I have followed what the team has done this winter and the people certainly have plenty of reasons to be excited with Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez coming to New York. Hopefully, this team can do the same kind of things we did back in 1986."

Strawberry will work with outfielders during spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He also will be at Shea Stadium on Feb. 27, when single-game tickets sales start, joined by four teammates from the Mets' 1986 World Series championship team: Gary Carter, Lenny Dykstra, Howard Johnson and Tim Teufel.

Dykstra will be a special instructor during spring training for the second straight season.

Lohse beats Twins in arbitration hearing

TAMPA, Fla. - Pitcher Kyle Lohse defeated the Minnesota Twins on Friday in the first salary arbitration case of the year.

Eligible for arbitration for the first time, Lohse will get a raise from $395,000 to $2.4 million, arbitrators Robert Bailey, Christine Knowlton and Elliott Shriftman decided, one day after hearing the case.

"I feel good that we won the case," Lohse said Friday. "It's too bad it had to go to that. It's something we had to do. Now, it's time to move forward and concentrate on playing some baseball."

Minnesota had offered $2.15 million to the 26-year-old right-hander, who went 9-13 with a 5.34 ERA in 34 starts last season.

Lohse held no ill feelings from the process and was just glad that it had ended.

"It wasn't a big thing weighing on my mind, but it's good that the contract is taken care of," Lohse said. "It's just part of the business. Sometimes you can't come to an agreement and need somebody to step in. It's just fortunate that I was able to come in and beat it."

Twins general manager Terry Ryan was unavailable for comment on Friday.

Tampa Bay and right-hander Travis Harper settled their case Friday, agreeing to a $745,000, one-year contract, the midpoint between his request for $840,000 and the team's offer of $650,000. He also can earn $20,000 bonuses for 55 and 60 games pitched.

On Thursday, Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt agreed to a $16.9 million, two-year contract. Oswalt, who had a hearing date next week, had asked for a raise from $3,425,000 to $7.8 million and had been offered $6 million by the Astros.

He went 20-10 with a 3.49 ERA last season.

Outfielder Jason Michaels and the Philadelphia Phillies, like Lohse scheduled for a hearing Thursday, instead agreed to an $825,000, one-year contract.

Michaels, 28, hit .274 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs in 115 games with the Phillies last year while platooning in center field with Marlon Byrd. Michaels made $335,000 last year and was eligible for arbitration for the first time. He had asked for $925,000 in arbitration and had been offered $650,000.

Eight players remain scheduled for hearings, including Twins pitcher Johan Santana, the AL Cy Young Award winner, and Milwaukee pitcher Ben Sheets. Hearings are scheduled through Feb. 18. All arbitration hearings this year are in Tampa.